Arrival from Israel

I am now on the plane taking me to the next stage of my life. This should be a good excursion in the Philippines and to be honest I am not nervous at all.

Israel was a great time and it was real good to see Omri and Falchetti; especially Omri since I hadn't seen that fool for probably two years before now. Israel is an intense place and left me with mixed feelings. The land is stocked full of religious and historical significance which you have to be really dense not to appreciate at all. I mean I'm not particularly religious person but being in the land where King Solomon did this or that and seeing Jerusalem was really cool. The beauty and depth to the land is overshadowed by the modern conflict. I mean the kibbutz I stayed at for a night was only a five minute drive from the border of the West Bank and Jerusalem itself is an anomaly to me. In Jerusalem there are religious zealots from all the Semitic faiths all living in close proximity and although the city seems to function and move without too much friction, the tension in the air is obvious. I occasionally discussed politics with Omri and the people I met but I tried to keep my preconceived notions to myself and really just listen and try to understand. Actually on of the more interesting discussions I had was with Falchetti and this group of Russians. Even the character of leaders like Joseph Stalin are still up for debate among the Russians. I need to mull over all that I heard and saw before I can formulate, and hold with confidence, an opinion about the situation in Israel. It would also be a good idea to give my body a break from the numerous excesses that I inflicted on myself.

The flights from Israel to where I am now were relatively easy except I didn't realize how precarious it is to take a bottle of PeptoBismal on an airplane. It couldn't even stay in the checked bag and had to be put completely separate box (which was subsequently arrived destroyed in the Philippine baggage claim). Don't ask me. The flight from Tel Aviv to Amman felt like I sat down and merely blinked. Amman to Bahrain was a bit more eventful. I was one of the few non-Arabs and so I did feel like I stood out a bit. It was a bit amusing whenever we were about to land, the pilot must have misjudged the distance by a little bit because we bounced off the ground and then it felt like the plane was pulled to right and the wing might hit the ground. In the midst of this brief chaos I could hear a few guys chanting the “Allah Ahkbar” which I think would cause quite a stir in an American flight but I imagine they were praying for the safety of the plane and weren't terrorists. So anyway I have another few hours to kill so I guess I will watch some crappy movies.